Concerns flow over drainage issue
A Surreyvale trustee, has been trying to address the issue for more than a year.
RESIDENTS of Surreyvale, a block of flats in Morningside, are at their wits’ end after trying to address a drainage issue.
Nadine Paul, chairperson of Surreyvale, said water and sand gushes onto the property from a neighbouring block of flats situated uphill of Surreyvale. Paul, who has lived in Surreyvale for 20 years, later becoming a trustee, has been trying to address the issue for more than a year.
“This [next door] property has been here for 20 years, and it’s been built over a long period of time. In about 2016 or 2017, they concreted the yard surface from east to west. Shortly after, we noticed that when it rains, gallons of water would pour over and wash down onto our property,” said Paul.
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She added that the drainage issue came to a head during the April 2022 floods.
“Whenever it rains, there are clumps of sand continually washing onto our property. Just prior to the April floods of 2022, the neighbouring property installed palisade fencing and a concreted canal that was attached to the fencing. It was already starting to crack in places. During the floods, the whole canal broke into pieces which then revealed the amount of sand under the concrete slab,” she explained.
Paul said she reported the matter to the eThekwini Municiplaity and has continued in her attempt to resolve the issue since the floods.
“I have been emailing the council since 2022 about the compliance of this property and their stormwater-drainage system,” she said.
She added that the previous trustees had been tackling the issue since 2017 before she took over.
“Between the municipality and the property owners, they need to put in a full, functioning drainage system,” she concluded.
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eThekwini Municipality’s head of communications Lindiwe Khuzwayo said the City received a complaint and visited the site to investigate further.
“We have served contravention notices to the offending property owner in line with legislative requirements because deviations were observed on site, and the stormwater, in our opinion, is not adequately controlled. The owner of the property is currently non-compliant, and we are in engagements with the property owner for compliance with applicable legislation,” said Khuzwayo.
Berea Mail attempted to reach the property owner for more information. They were not available for comment at the time of going to press.
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